A Geothermal Generator works on the same basic principle as normal Generators do. Geothermal Generators use the heat of Lava to generate electricity (20 EU/t). With the release of IC², the generators accept both Lava Buckets and Lava Cells. The latter are stackable and thus require less maintenance, but cost Tin to produce and are lost in the process of generating power out of them in the geothermal generator. Lava cells have an EMC value of 128, which is low enough to easily set up a condenser for the cells. Lava can be pumped in by pipes/tubes to any side. Lava cells can be pumped in by pipes to any side but the top.

A lava cell will allow it to produce 20000 EU over the course of 200 ticks, which is 10 seconds when running at full speed. Because a geothermal generator is smart, it will not consume lava when there is nothing that will accept power connected by cables.

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Waterproof Teleport Pipes are great for Geothermal Generators! Simply place a pump above a volcano and use waterproof pipes to connect it to the Geothermal Generator. By using liquid transporters you can avoid using a large amount of waterproof pipes to transport the lava.

If you use Tin Cells to collect lava, they will be destroyed in the Geothermal Generator, as in most other applications of cells. However, their advantage is that they can be stacked up to 64.

To "prime" and fill the generator with fuel the first time will take 88 lava cells (64 stack plus 24 extra). This is because the generator has a 480,000 EU internal storage (24 cells x 20,000 EU), i.e. 24 cells will be used up instantaneously upon startup.

A lava cell is 128 EMC (the same as coal), so transmutating coal into lava cells in a Transmutation Tablet once one has crafted at least ONE lava cell, can give you a total of extra 4000 EU, comparing between transmutating 1 coal to 4 charcoal (16000 EU) and transmutating 1 coal to 1 lava cell (20000 EU), ignoring the cost of the geothermal generator. If one has a Klein Star, this would equate to 1 lava cell = 2 stacks of cobble/dirt/sand, great for the output of a Quarry or Cobblestone generator with a Block Breaker using an Energy Condenser for automatic generation or a transmutation tablet for manual generation.